19.6.3 Rearranging components in an interface

Rearranging the components of an interface in the most appropriate way is an important part of interface design. This might involve rearranging the layouts and window elements in an interface, or it might involve rearranging the menu system.

The main way to rearrange the components of an interface (either the layouts or the menu components) is to use the cut, copy and paste functions available, as described below.

To move any object (together with its children, if there are any):

Select the object in a graph in the Interface Builder (either the layouts view or the menus view, depending on the type of objects you are rearranging).

Choose
Edit > Cut or press
.

The selected object, and any children, are transferred to the clipboard. The objects are removed from the graph in the Interface Builder, and the interface skeleton.

Select the object that you want to be the parent of the object you just cut.

You must make sure you select an appropriate object. For instance, in the Layouts view you must make sure you do not select a window element such as a button panel or output window, since window elements cannot have children. Instead, you should probably select a layout.

Choose
Edit > Paste or press
.

The objects that you transferred to the clipboard are pasted back into the interface design as the children of the newly selected object. The change is immediately visible in both the graph and the interface skeleton.

Note:
You can copy whole areas of the design, rather than moving them, by selecting
Edit > Copy or press
instead of
Edit > Paste
. This is useful if you have a number of similar areas in your design.

The menu commands
Object > Raise and
Object > Lower can be used to raise or lower the position of an element in the interface. This effects the position of the element in the interface skeleton, the layout or menu hierarchy, and the source code definition of the interface. Note that these commands are available from the menu bar in the Interface Builder, rather than from the podium.